Stemosphere was born from The Latham Science Engagement Initiative, where students create, plan, and implement self-directed STEM outreach projects. While these students come from a variety of backgrounds, majors, and interests, they share a common goal to engage the public in discussions of science and opportunities in STEM. The impact of this approach proved tremendous, and this website is one of many similarly impressive student works.
All too often, science articles are either incredibly condescending and full of jargon or oversimplified and the integrity of the research is lost. In this blog, we hope to spark your interest in new research and scientific discoveries and communicate scientific topics in an easy-to-digest way. Stem-o-sphere is completely student directed and edited, with each piece written by fellows in the LSEI.
The intersection of science, society, and daily life
We believe that the world needs scientists who are able to share their research in terms everyone can understand. Our students developed this skill through writing, lectures, and self-designed outreach projects. The goal is to communicate rigorous academic methods and findings while remaining accessible.
Stem-o-sphere is a student run web publication! Each year several motivated individuals take on executive and editorial roles crucial to bringing content to our audience. Posts are written by past and present Latham fellows – several of whom are moving on to pursue careers in science communication.
Everyone recognizes that digital technologies are continually changing the way we communicate and share what’s important to us. These new channels require communication strategies often overlooked in undergraduate curricula. In order to develop effective communication skills students learn to consider how the meaning of their content changes based on the context in which it is presented.
The fellowship that produces Stem-o-sphere is composed of a diverse group of students from a variety of academic backgrounds: economics to music to science. Cooperation of individuals with very different life experiences promotes an elevated perspective that otherwise would not be possible. This is particularly evident in our group projects.